How to Weigh Yourself Correctly

Monitoring your weight is difficult when it can fluctuate three to five pounds in a single day. This system will help.

Step 1: Use your own scale Always use the same scale. Scales that haven't been calibrated recently can be off by as much as four pounds, so using a variety of scales will make it more difficult for you to monitor gains and losses.
TIP: To check your own scale's accuracy, put a five-pound dumbbell or bag of sugar on it and see what reading you get.
Step 2: Weigh yourself in the morning Weigh yourself at the same time every day, preferably first thing in the morning, before you eat.
TIP: Don't weigh yourself right after a workout, unless you always weigh yourself right after a workout and never at any other time. Exercising makes you sweat, so the reading may reflect an inaccurate weight decrease.
Step 3: Use a hard surface Keep your scale on a flat, hard surface; carpeting can affect the reading.
Step 4: Pee before you weigh yourself Make sure your bladder is empty when you step on the scale.
Step 5: Get naked Weigh yourself naked or in your underwear; clothes and accessories can add as much as five pounds.
Step 6: Take an average Weigh yourself on three consecutive days each week, and use the average of those numbers as your weekly weigh-in number.
FACT: In a study of 3,000 dieters, those who weighed themselves daily lost an average of 12 pounds, compared to a 6-pound loss for dieters who did weekly weigh-ins. Dieters who didn't weigh themselves at all gained four pounds.